Single-player games are becoming an “endangered species,” laments Blizzard’s Pardo

Blizzard’s Rob Pardo believes triple-A single-player games are becoming an “endangered species,” due to emerging business models, piracy, and the ability for players to rent games.

Speaking with GI International, Pardo, the executive vice president of game design and lead designer on World of Warcraft, doesn’t feel large single-player titles will be around for much longer – a fact he laments.

“I don’t see there being a great business model for it these days,” he said. “It’s really sad, there’s just a lot of elements out there that conspire to make those games difficult to make now.
“Between pirating or the ability for people to rent games, it’s hard for publishers to pour millions and millions of dollars into a game and not necessarily see the return they need to make those budgets realistic.

“A big trend is connecting everyone in their games, be it a full online experience like World of Warcraft, or just being able to have a social experience with other people playing single-player games. You’re seeing all these sorts of elements being explored.

“I think it’s really interesting because it’s not just about connecting someone so I can play with them. It’s about how I can have a social experience around the games that I play even if it’s inherently a single-player game.”

Pardo also believes future genres are going to change through “technological, business, and creativity,” which will create genres players can’t “imagine yet that are going to suddenly appear.”

Maybe these will replace single-player games, then.

Hit up the link for the full interview.

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